Strange Flavor
by Mirai2
Summary: Mizuki’s away for summer vacation, and Yuuta is left to practice on his own. Slash, strange flavor. Try it you might like the taste.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Strange Flavor

Author: Mirai2

Summary: Mizuki's away for summer vacation, and Yuuta is left to practice on his own. Slash, strange flavor. Try it; you might like the taste.

It wasn't the first time Yuuta had seen him standing there. Practicing against the backboard as the sun shot its last rays of light over the courts, it was difficult to see the figure leaning against the tree. Yuuta couldn't discern anything beyond a white shirt and a book bag. When he picked up his racquet bag, the figure was gone.

The third time it happened, he was inside the court. Yuuta paused mid-serve, his heart jumping in his throat. The man had appeared so suddenly, right on the baseline. Yuuta threw the ball and served. He could tell it was a fault.

The man was writing in a notebook. Sadaharu Inui, Yuuta realized, Seigaku's data man, and felt immediately relieved. It was strange to see someone standing across the court from him in the half-light, but Yuuta couldn't help but be reminded of Mizuki's detached interest when he examined a tennis player. For some reason, it was reassuring. Yuuta continued practicing his serve with no more inaccuracy than he would suffer under Mizuki's gaze.

This time, when Yuuta put his racket away, he was still there. He stood by the gate with his notebook open and his pen paused in mid-thought. The dimming light reflected off the lenses of his glasses. His expression was unreadable. Yuuta's first thought was to walk by him as if he wasn't there, but for some reason he paused. Maybe it was the reminder of Mizuki.

"Are you almost finished?" Yuuta asked.

Inui inclined his head. "My data is 80 complete." He closed the notebook.

"I'll be here again tomorrow." There was, Yuuta thought, no point in trying to stop him. Whether it was at practice or at a game, the data would probably be the same.

And he was there the next day. They both were. This time, Inui stood next to him, at a distance of a few yards. For some reason, this put Yuuta on edge, and his first few volleys against the backboard were ill-timed. It seemed Inui realized this, because the next time Yuuta hit the ball, he wasn't in Yuuta's line of vision. After a few hits, Yuuta had forgotten he was there.

When the sky had turned from gold to gray, Yuuta retrieved his racquet bag.

"Thank you," Inui said, still writing with sure strokes in his notebook. It didn't seem to require a response. Yuuta wasn't sure if a response would even be heard.

The moon loomed huge over the horizon. A faint cool breeze stirred the thick air. Yuuta wiped his face with a towel, grateful for the temporary respite in the muggy evening.

"There's a storm coming in," Inui said in his ear, and Yuuta started. It seemed he made a habit of being in the least expected spot.

"Mm. I hope the trains are on schedule."

"The nearest stop is six blocks south. Were you going that way?" Inui asked.

"Yes. I think there's a bookstore near the stop? I need to pick something up."

"I was going that way myself," Inui offered. "My house is nearby and," a funny little twitch ran across his face. A smile, Yuuta wondered? "I need another notebook."

It seemed strange to be walking down the sidewalk with a former rival in the twilight. Rather, it didn't seem strange, and that was what was strange about it. Inui seemed preoccupied, so the walking in silence didn't feel uncomfortable. Yuuta's mind wandered.

"Are you doing profiles on all of the high school players, or just me?" Yuuta started at the sound of his own voice. He hadn't realized he was going to ask the question until he had already said it.

Inui looked over at him. Yuuta imagined that was the look he always got on his face, sort of booky and professor-like, when he discussed data he was collecting. "Some of my information is outdated. A few players in particular seemed to have improved drastically since I last recorded their statistics. You are one, Akira Kamio is another, and Harukaze Kurobane is the third. Yours was the most time-consuming analysis."

Yuuta nodded. It wasn't a compliment to say he had improved; given the amount of time he spent training, it would be an insult to say otherwise. "May I ask what you found?"

"You may," Inui said. He adjusted his glasses and flipped open his book. "Serve speed has increased 12, and accuracy has increased a remarkable 15. The best explanation for this is the extensive daily practice. With the backboard, it is difficult to accurately gauge volleying ability, but your speed and accuracy were both up considerably. It seems your rivalry with-" Inui closed the book. A drop of rain plinked off the waxy black cover. Then another.

Before he knew it, the steady fssssh of a heavy rainstorm had engulfed his hearing , and he was dashing over water-slicked concrete to escape the storm. Water dribbled down his nose and into his eyes, but he could see Inui's figure, one step ahead of him.

The bell jingled violently, and the door slammed shut, overlapping the sound of thunder. The owner barely glanced up from where he was, reading a paper at the counter. A few other sensible customers stood in the entrance, shaking off their umbrellas. Inui's notebook had disappeared into his schoolbag.

Yuuta found he was smiling. The mad dash in the cool rain had been exactly what he needed after the long hours of practice. He felt exhilarated and completely refreshed. He looked over at Inui, and saw that strange smile/twitch on his face again.

"Interesting. I didn't know you could run quite that fast."

"Neither did I," Yuuta said, somehow finding breath to say it. A laugh bubbled up out of nowhere. Despite Inui's much longer legs, he had kept up, and they had reached for the door at the same time.

"Well," Inui said, glancing over at the office supply section, "I'll go find my notebook." He had that preoccupied look about him again.

Yuuta nodded. He pulled the list out of his pocket. The top had been drenched and the red ink ran in little patterns so Yuuta could barely make out the title. He needed two books for the coming school year that he was expected to read over the summer, and his brother had asked him to pick up a book when he'd mentioned the school books over dinner.

The two for school were easy to find. They were propped up on the shelf, obviously popular based on the dozen or so copies. The third, the one for his brother, wasn't as simple. Yuuta squinted at the red lines, but it was no use. The title was a smudge of words, and the author had been smeared off the page altogether.

"My..?" Yuuta wondered out loud. The first word was either "my" or "by". "Broken…"

"My Brother's Keeper," a nearby voice suggested. For a moment, Yuuta thought Inui had come back. The shopkeeper, an older man with a sharp look to his face, smiled up at him.

"I suppose it could be that," Yuuta said doubtfully. It didn't look like something that Shusuke would read. Historical romance was… well, it was just that when he saw Shusuke reading, it tended to be large, obscure, and Russian. This book must have been summer reading for school.

"Here," the man said, reaching up to pluck a book from the top shelf. "R.C. Milan, copyright 1986. Is this what you're looking for?"

The cover had a rather badly drawn tree on the front. Yuuta glanced at the smudged writing again. Try as he might, he couldn't find any better discernation of the words.

"I think so. Thank you."

"An interesting book," the old man said. He peered at the boy over the top of his half-moon glasses. The creases around his eyes became more pronounced, as if he found something amusing.

"Is this for a gift?" the storekeeper asked.

"No," Yuuta said shortly. "My brother asked me to buy it." The storekeeper's lips drew tight in a smile.

"Ah…" He looked for a moment as though he was going to say something more, but he was looking over Yuuta's shoulder. Inui had stepped up to the counter. "It appears your friend is ready to check out."

Yuuta was about to interrupt and say that Inui was not his friend, but the storekeeper had already moved behind the counter. Besides, it didn't seem worth it to debate the matter with a stranger.

He stood in line behind Inui, who had found a glossy black bound notebook to replace his old one. After they made their purchases, Yuuta stood next to Inui in the doorway, peering at the water dripping off the roof.

"The rain has stopped," Inui observed. "The train stop is over there."

"I know," Yuuta said. He sounded a little impatient to his own ears. Indeed, the darkening sky had cleared, showing the first stars in the dim light. He felt like he was forgetting something. Inui didn't move, standing with his hands in his pockets and watching the water drip in patterns from the roof edge, as if he was waiting for something.

"Will you practice with me?" Yuuta blurted out.

Inui didn't look at him. "Why?"

"Long range," Yuuta said. He'd been thinking about this on the train ride home the day before. "My swing is strong, but against players with a longer range, it comes up short. It's a weakness."

Inui inclined his head. "I thought you would see it. Your playing style is quite different from my teammates. Quite different, I would say, from your brother's." Inui paused. When Yuuta failed to respond, he continued. "We would be a good match. You have less range and accuracy, but your reflexes are excellent, and you play a very aggressive game."

Inui stepped out from the alcove and into the street.

"Wait," Yuuta called after him. Inui paused and glanced back at him from the other side of the street. "So-"

"I assume you'll be at the park tomorrow, same time?" Inui asked. He sounded slightly surprised, as if considering, for the first time, that Yuuta might have other plans.

"Right," Yuuta said.

"Tomorrow, then," and Inui walked off the way they had come.

All the way to the train stop, Yuuta wondered what he had been thinking. He usually practiced with Mizuki, who was away with his family for the summer holiday. Still, Mizuki was not as dedicated as he was. Inui, on the other hand, seemed consumed with tennis, and might make for an interesting opponent.

Would it be so wrong to practice with someone from another team? His only real concern was that his teammates might be upset, but Inui didn't seem the type to gossip. Yuuta was a loner, and he usually preferred to practice on his own, but he knew that the backboard could only be a suitable opponent for so long before his skills began to rust.

Distracted as he was, Yuuta nearly missed his stop. Hurriedly, before the doors closed, Yuuta gathered up his tennis bag and the book bag from the store, and darted into the crowded transit center.

When he got home, he snuck past the living room, where his sister would undoubtedly scold him for forgetting an umbrella, and up the stairs. When he reached for the bathroom door handle, he found himself face to face with his brother, who was toweling his pale hair dry. Shusuke looked momentarily surprised.

"Yuuta... you're soaked." Shusuke handed him a dry towel. "Hurry and dry off or you'll catch a cold."

"I'm fine," Yuta said shortly. "And I'm not a child. Are you done in here?"

"Yes, I…" Shusuke paused as he stepped past his brother, glancing curiously at him. "Are you sure you're all right, Yuuta?" Blue eyes stared knowingly into his. Yuuta felt suddenly nervous. Shusuke had an uncanny ability to detect when Yuuta was hiding something. Whether agreeing to practice with Inui was the right thing to do or not, it wasn't something he wanted to discuss with Shusuke. The two were, he recalled for the first time, good friends.

He brushed it off, lowering his eyes and pushing past Shusuke. "I'll be fine once I change clothes. So, would you mind…?"

The door closed. Yuuta clenched his jaw. Was nothing safe from his brother? It was simply annoying. He felt this need to butt into every aspect of his younger brother's life. He realized he'd forgotten to tell Shusuke that he'd bought his book. He turned on the shower. It would wait until tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Strange Flavor

Author: Mirai2

Summary: Mizuki's away for summer vacation, and Yuuta is left to practice on his own. Slash, strange flavor. Try it; you might like the taste.

Disclaimer: This fic is not my fault. It's my buddy's fault. There's a story behind this… You know how /some people/ like to put chunks of names together to describe their favorite couples? Inui/Yuuta, she pointed out, would be Inyuu. Hence the fic. Like I said, it's not my fault.

* * *

Practice with Inui wasn't what he expected. In addition to volleying against one another, Inui had created a special training program for Yuuta that left him exhausted at the end of each practice. After the first practice, Yuuta had asked Inui why he would give so much aid to someone who wasn't on his team. Inui hadn't answered at first, as they walked toward the train stop before their paths split. Finally, he'd said simply that if Yuuta was to practice with him, it made no sense to allow his partner to be less than a perfect opponent. This made sense to Yuuta. 

So, most evenings, Yuuta would ride the train home in the evening, limbs worked to exhaustion, the last points they'd fought playing themselves over against the back of his eyelids. Inui was a strong opponent, and one who played perfect devil's advocate to Yuuta's weaknesses. Yuuta found that the exercises improved his game, but Inui improved similarly, so that their skills were closely matched.

One evening, Yuuta had thrown himself down on the cool grass, exhausted. Inui stood looking up at the sky.

"And that's it," Inui said.

Yuuta sat with his eyes closed for a few minutes before answering. Running up and down the small hill on the edge of the park for the last fifteen minutes had exhausted him. Finally, he had caught his breath sufficiently to respond.

"And that's what?" He glanced over at Inui.

"Now it's time to take a break," Inui said, inscrutable as ever.

"Break, ha!" Yuuta said, closing his eyes again. "I'm done for the night."

"I didn't mean for the night," Inui said patiently. "We won't be playing for two weeks."

"What?" Yuuta asked, scrunching his face up. "Why?"

"It's necessary. When you reach a certain plateau… Have you ever tried to learn how to do something?"

Yuuta snorted. "I would think running up and down a hill while a senile old man yelled obscenities at me from his porch constitutes trying very hard to learn how to play better tennis. But yes, I used to play piano."

"Did you ever get stuck on a song?"

"Sure," Yuuta said, rolling over onto his stomach. If this wasn't going anywhere, he would just keep his eyes closed for a little while on the nice grass…

"And what did you do?" Inui sat down at the picnic table that Yuuta was laying next to.

"Well, finally I gave up because I was driving my mother nuts playing the same song for hours straight," Yuuta said.

"And did you ever come back to it?"

"Yes. I can play it now, a melody by Chopin… In fact, when my teacher asked me to play it, I had given up on it weeks before, and hadn't played it since. I played it almost perfectly the first time… Is that what you're getting at?" The grass smelled so good. It must have been cut recently.

"Yes, exactly. You'll find that your mind and reflexes improve from the break. Everything will seem sharper."

"So, if I'm not playing tennis, what am I supposed to be doing for two entire weeks?" Yuuta asked. Tennis was so much a part of his life, he couldn't imagine not playing for a week straight, not to mention two.

"Whatever you like. Puzzles, reading, swimming, anything but tennis or similar sports."

"If you think it's that important…" Yuuta trailed off skeptically. He had become accustomed to taking Inui's word as law.

The cicadas and the sound of Inui's pen scratching over paper were the only sounds that reached Yuuta's ears above the rustle of the breeze.

"I do," Inui said. "Do you agree to it, then?"

"I suppose. If you won't be playing, I don't have anyone to play against anyway, so I might as well agree, right?"

The pen paused. "What about your brother?"

That didn't deserve a response, Yuuta decided. He kept his eyes closed and waited for Inui to say something else, but he was writing in his notebook again. Yuuta decided he'd get up once Inui was done with his data. He didn't want to interrupt after all… and the grass was so comfortable…

* * *

"Mmf, ugh, brother, I can land the plane by myself!" 

Yuuta's eyes snapped open. Strong hands were holding his shoulders, and for some reason he was leaning into them, as if he was trying very hard to fall down. Inui was looking at him with a small frown and what looked like the closest thing Yuuta had seen to annoyance on his features.

"Uh… I was having a dream," Yuuta said weakly, catching his balance.

"I noticed," grunted Inui, releasing his shoulders now that Yuuta seemed to be awake. "I tried to wake you up several minutes ago. I shook you and asked if you were ready to go. Finally, you said yes, stood up, and almost fell over… Perhaps that last training was a bit too much. I didn't take the heat into account earlier."

"No, no, I'm just a heavy sleeper," Yuuta said, yawning and shoving off the last of his fatigue. "Sorry, I shouldn't have lain down."

"It wasn't a problem," Inui said, and Yuuta glanced over at him quickly. The corners of his mouth did that little twitching thing. Yuuta got the feeling that Inui was laughing at him, and couldn't help but feel vaguely annoyed. "I thought I might have to abandon you in the park or carry you. Fortunately that wasn't the case."

They began walking their regular route, Yuuta toward the train stop, Inui to his home.

After a while, Yuuta said, "thank you for waking me up. It's dark. I'd better hurry home lest my family calls the police." Yuuta couldn't see Inui's face very well in the dim lamplight, but he thought the other man was smiling.

"Your family seems to be very protective of you," he said.

"They are," Yuuta agreed. "That's the problem with being the youngest child. No one seems to realize that I'm old enough to do things on my own."

"Hmm," Inui drawled. Yuuta couldn't see it, but he knew that Inui had that irritating not-quite-smirk on his face. He hated that; he hated feeling like someone he respected was making fun of him.

"What?" Yuuta asked curtly.

"Do you think that perhaps they're being protective… because they want to protect you?"

Asking a ridiculous question like that simply added insult to injury. Yuuta gritted his teeth together. He hated being patronized.

"I can take care of myself," Yuuta said.

Inui paused, and Yuuta stopped a few steps ahead of him. Dimly he realized that Inui should have turned to go home a few blocks back. They were already at the terminal. The wall behind him had a schedule better read in daylight of the train times. A small circle of light cast by the street lamp above surrounded Yuuta. Inui, on the edge of that circle, was in shadow. He pushed his glasses up his nose. Yuuta looked at him curiously. Did he have some last minute training advice?

"Didn't you ever bother to consider what they might want to protect you from?" Inui asked.

Yuuta hesitated for a fraction of a second. Then he swung his arm up. He never did know exactly what he intended to do; Inui had grabbed his wrist before he could think any further and pinned him against the brick wall. Something – Inui's notebook? - was digging into the side of his stomach. Inui was breathing heavily – no, Yuuta realized it was his own breath rasping in his throat. His face was so close that he could almost read the expression in the dark eyes hidden by those glasses. There was a faint smell to him, something a little bitter, a little sweet, that made Yuuta think of the thick leather-bound volumes sitting on his brother's desk.

Then Inui had released him and he was standing, trying to catch his breath, against the board with the J-train's running times.

"The-the-what the hell was that?" Yuuta asked, wishing that his voice hadn't come out quite so panicked.

"A joke. Obviously in poor taste. I apologize," Inui said. He had turned his back to Yuuta and was already walking away from the terminal. There was no inflection to his voice to tell Yuuta what he was thinking, not even the usual hint of derision.

"What kind of- wait!"

"You'd better hurry. You'll miss your train," Inui said.

Even as he said that, Yuuta could hear the train coming. Inui was already half a block away, making good time with his long legs. Yuuta decided to catch the train and think later. When he ran down the stairs to the platform, half a dozen sleepy-looking people glanced up at his energetic display. The train stopped, the doors opened, and he darted in.

Staring out the window at the nightscape outside, his mind was curiously blank. For some reason, the same line kept playing in his head: "Didn't you ever bother to consider what they might want to protect you from?"

The darkness outside held no answers.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Strange Flavor

Author: Mirai2

Summary: Mizuki's away for summer vacation, and Yuuta is left to practice on his own. Slash, strange flavor. Try it; you might like the taste.

Thanks for the reviews! It's nice to see that some people find this pairing plausible, even though it's a little different.

* * *

There were voices down the hall from his room. Yuuta's heart thumped against his chest. That was Inui's low voice he heard coming from his brother's room.

It went against his nature, but he had to know what they were talking about.

He crept across the hall carpet and put his fingers on the door frame, laying his ear gently against the door. Tonight, Inui and his brother were going to a movie. Somehow he had been included in the plan. It was probably a good idea; Yuuta had stuffed his tennis racket in the back of his closet to avoid even thinking about it, and frankly, it was driving him nuts. Inui probably knew that it would, and had suggested that Yuuta come with to the movies. Yuuta wondered again if Shusuke knew about them training together.

"…thought it was something like that. Of course I understand. I feel the same way." That voice was Shusuke's smooth tenor.

"Very interesting. I thought perhaps you might take this differently. Obviously, Shusuke Fuji, there are a few things I don't know about you yet." That, of course, was Inui. Yuuta closed his eyes and could almost see that annoying smirk.

It had been quiet for several long seconds. Yuuta could barely contain his urge to throw the door open. Were they just lost in thought? Or were Inui and his brother…? He couldn't even think about it!

"We understand each other then?" Shusuke said, his voice muffled by the door. The knob turned.

Yuuta all but sprinted to his bedroom and closed the door most of the way, careful not to make any noise. His brother didn't notice, though; he was looking at Inui as they came out of his room.

"Yes… where is Yuuta?"

When Shusuke opened his door, Yuuta was sprawled stomach down on his bed, a book flipped open in front of him.

"Yuuta, Inui is here… were you sleeping?"

Yuuta let out a small yawn and switched off the bedside lamp.

"No, reading. Oh, that's right. I forgot we were going out tonight."

Inui glanced around Yuuta's room. Now that was annoying. He had that same look he always got, like an etymologist might get pinning down their favorite species of insect on a piece of styrofoam. He put his hand on Yuuta's desk, almost a caress.

"Let's get going," Yuuta said hurriedly.

"Must be a boring book," Inui said, looking at the neat stack of papers Yuuta had accumulated during the school year.

Yuuta shrugged, glancing at it. "I guess."

"It's upside down."

Yuuta looked. He was right. And what was the dumb book anyway? Nursing guide to medicine? Probably his mom's. Great, he'd been reading a book about drugs upside down. Doubtless, Inui thought he was using some of the products mentioned in the book.

Inui raised an eyebrow.

"Um… right, let's go."

* * *

The ride on the train was comfortable. They sat at the back, and Yuuta was happy to stare out the window and listen to Shusuke and Inui talk about tennis and their middle school days. It was strange. On the one hand, he wanted to be able to talk with Inui, with that smooth effortlessness they'd had when they had been practicing together. On the other hand, he wasn't sure he could look Inui in the eye after that strange incident. That… almost kiss? Was that what it was? Yuuta could feel his face getting warm, and he stared more intently out the window.

When they got to the theater, Yuuta wished he had walked behind his brother, because somehow he ended up sitting between Inui and Shusuke. They talked back and forth just as comfortably as they had on the train, but Yuuta couldn't look at either of them.

Was this feeling... jealousy?

It wasn't possible. Yuuta shoved that thought away and resolved to act normally.

"Yuuta?" Shusuke asked quietly, just as the show was beginning. "Are you all right? You seem very quiet."

"Shhh. The movie is starting."

Shusuke didn't say anything after that. Yuuta hated that; how he always did just what Yuuta asked him to and never got angry about it.

Through the previews, Yuuta couldn't help thinking about the man on his left and his brother on his right. On one side was Sadaharu Inui, intelligent, dark, and charmingly sarcastic, and on the other was his fair-haired, good-looking brother. The only thing keeping the two apart, he thought, is me. This is a date, and I'm the third wheel.

And throughout the whole movie, with Inui's leg pressed against his and Shusuke's arm overlapping his own, that thought came back like a mantra, wearing on his mind.

* * *

They played a few games of cards at home. Yuuta really couldn't get into it. Then, Shusuke let him win a few rounds of five card stud, and he couldn't take it anymore. He pushed his chair back from the table and put the cards down.

"It's late and I'm very tired… please, continue playing. I enjoyed going to the movies with both of you." There was a big fat lie.

Inui looked up at him, an unreadable look that Yuuta couldn't return. He found himself staring at the cards he'd thrown down on the table.

"It was very diverting, wasn't it? Good night, Yuuta," Inui murmured.

It took considerable effort to walk, rather than run, out of the room.

Shusuke followed him up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Yuuta…"

"What?" Yuuta whirled to face his brother. He couldn't help snapping at him; that wistful tone was annoying. He went over to his closet, rummaging for a tee-shirt. A tennis ball bounced off of the top shelf, hitting him in the head. Yuuta stuffed it in his pants pocket.

"What's wrong? You seemed very distracted tonight," Shusuke said. He narrowed his ice-blue eyes at Yuuta.

"It's nothing." _Or at least, nothing that can be fixed unless I learn to magically disappear into thin air. _Yuuta threw the shirt he'd been wearing at the laundry basket and pulled the beat up tee-shirt over his head.

"You said you were tired," Shusuke said.

"I just… look, why don't you just go and play cards with Inui? I'm sure you have plenty to talk about." Yuuta went down the stairs two at a time, Shusuke a step behind him.

"Yuuta…"

He couldn't _stand_ that tone. He pulled the front door open and turned to face his brother.

"_Don't_ sound so concerned. It has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it. I really wasn't in the mood to be dragged along on your little date with Inui tonight. I'm allowing you two some time together, so why don't you take advantage of it, brother?"

His voice had raised in volume, seemingly of its own accord. Yuuta hoped that Inui hadn't heard any of that. He probably had. Slamming the door behind him, Yuuta decided it didn't really matter.

* * *

Yuuta whipped the ball at the backboard. The huge yellow moon on the horizon scattered light across the court. The gentle summer breeze that ruffled his hair should have been soothing, but he felt too close to exploding to enjoy it.

He'd gone for a jog. A long jog – he should have been exhausted, but somehow he felt like it had just fueled his anger more. How could he have been so stupid? Acting like a jealous child because his brother and his tennis partner got along so well? He couldn't even imagine what his brother and Inui had said after he left.

"Ugh." He whipped the ball at the board again. The old board was chipped and dented in some places, so it went off at a weird angle and Yuuta missed the catch.

He spun around, looking to see where the ball had gone, and gasped.

There was someone standing a few meters behind him.

Of course it had to be Inui, holding the lost tennis ball.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Yuuta stared at him. The moonlight put shadows on his face. Yuuta could see his upturned lips, but he couldn't read the expression there.

Yuuta froze for a few seconds. It seemed like ages. Then, almost instinctively, he turned and ran, back toward the train station. He couldn't face Inui just now.

He was half a block from the terminal when a hand grabbed his wrist, wrenching him to a stop.

"Stop. Don't run, Yuuta. I can catch you, anyway," Inui's voice was slightly breathless.

"Let go! I don't want to see you right now. After that…"

Inui coughed. "Actually, it's not about that." He tossed the tennis ball in the air, caught it. Yuuta stared at Inui's feet, unwilling to look at him. "This is something of a violation of our agreement, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh!" Yuuta looked up at Inui, startled. "I'm sorry, I barely realized it," he said genuinely. "When I'm… upset, I generally go play tennis. I didn't even bring my racket though, so really..." he trailed off.

Inui's pursed his lips. Yuuta could tell he was annoyed. Certainly, he took training and his data seriously. That look was somewhat frightening. "You do understand the point behind this, hm, 'untraining', do you not?" Inui tossed the tennis ball to him.

"I… I... not really," Yuuta admitted, catching the ball and looking at it. Just because it worked for piano lessons didn't mean it would work for tennis.

Inui took Yuuta's arm. He pressed his thumb into a tendon on the underside of Yuuta's arm, making his hand spasm. The ball dropped to the ground. Yuuta looked at his empty hand in surprise.

"The point is to make the body forget," Inui said. His voice was low. Yuuta felt his stomach do a strange flop. He looked up at Inui, studying his expression, but his face was impassive as usual. He really was very good looking, Yuuta suddenly realized. The high cheek bones and firm lips… Yuuta had never really thought about it before. He looked good with glasses, but they did something to hide his natural features.

With his free hand, Yuuta reached up and pulled Inui's glasses off of his face. He had startling dark eyes.

Inui leaned forward and brushed his lips like feathers against Yuuta's. His stomach did that flip thing again, like slamming a match point. He couldn't think anymore. He closed his eyes. After all that stressing and yelling and running, he was finally exhausted. Inui's lips met his again, firmer this time. A hand went around his waist. Yuuta didn't fight it. He felt his body responding to Inui's warm lips.

Inui pulled away. Yuuta found he was breathless and utterly speechless.

"The point is to make the body forget," Inui murmured in his ear, "so that it reacts by intuition alone."

Yuuta fought to catch his breath. When he opened his eyes Inui was gone. He picked up the tennis ball, pocketed it, and wandered slowly toward the train station. He would have jogged home but all of the energy he'd gotten from his anger was gone, stolen away by a kiss from his brother's best friend.

He was on the train before he realized that he was still holding Inui's glasses in his hand. He folded them and put them in his shirt pocket.

"What an annoying guy," he muttered. The old lady three seats ahead of him turned to glare at him, as if to tell him to keep his problems to himself.

_If you had my problems, lady, you'd be talking to yourself on the subway too_.


End file.
